Two years ago, Nikole Hannah-Jones launched “The 1619 Project,” a collection of New York Times Magazine articles, photography and podcasts. That project became a launching point to talk about Black people’s roles in shaping the United States. Hannah-Jones has been praised and vilified for her work ever since.

Today, we share highlights from a L.A. Times Book Club chat between Hannah-Jones and L.A. Times executive editor Kevin Merida. They talked about how Black people can be patriotic despite centuries of mistreatment … and about using mountains of research to get back at haters.

More reading:

Nikole Hannah-Jones dives into the origins and language of ‘The 1619 Project’

Nikole Hannah-Jones became a political target. What she’s learned from the ‘hurtful’ attacks

Howard-bound Nikole Hannah-Jones plans to ‘even the playing field’ for HBCUs. Here’s how